Raphinha reaches Cristiano Ronaldo milestone despite Barcelona’s El Clasico defeat

Raphinha moved into Cristiano Ronaldo territory with a remarkable scoring record, despite Barcelona losing 2-1 to Real Madrid in Sunday’s El Clasico.

The Brazil forward scored Barcelona’s only goal at Camp Nou, cancelling out Real Madrid’s opener in the 61st minute. Kylian Mbappe then secured victory for the visitors with the decisive goal in the 87th minute.

The result came in the 10th round of the Spanish league season, but Raphinha still had a personal landmark to celebrate. According to Tribuna, he has become the first player since Ronaldo to score 13 goals in the opening 10 rounds of a La Liga campaign.

Ronaldo achieved the feat during his time with Real Madrid in the 2014-15 season, scoring 17 goals in his first 10 league appearances. That tally set an extraordinary benchmark which had not been matched for more than a decade.

Raphinha’s strong start has now brought him closer to that record, even though Barcelona were unable to claim victory in the biggest fixture of the Spanish football calendar.